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I prefer sectional sharpening for one particular reason; I find the hand not holding the handle should always be applying pressure DIRECTLY over the stone. This is not possible with a full sweep, making for inconsistencies...

Pressure gets lighter as I use each stone as I try to abrade the burr and wire edge. I do not "pick up where I left off" when I change stones though, I will start the next stone with moderate pressure, more than I finished the last stone with, then again use lighter and lighter strokes as I finish on that stone.

I tend to use an extreme hybrid method. Takes a lot of time but you can't argue with the results. For the majority of the work I do a sectional sweeping method, much like Jon. I try and use the "count down" method here, though I don't really count strokes so much as feel and look at the bevel to see where I am - mostly depending on what kind of edge geometry I am trying to achieve. Eventually I hit each sides like once on each side. I'll then strop the knife a few times and then felt pad/block routine. I'l go back to the stone and do a few sweeping strokes like Curtis. This tends to help even out any inconsistencies that occurred during my sectional sharpening. I don't spend a lot of time here, starting with 4 or 5 strokes per side then moving down to 1, again like Curtis. I like to make sure that with the first few sweeping strokes I am raising an even but small burr the length of the edge and that it moves back and forth between sides the way I want it to. Then it's back to the felt block and pad. Then a few stropping strokes like Murray, one more time to the felt block, and one more stropping set on the stone. Then it's time for the next stone. Depending on the knife and what I want the final edge to be like I end with my natural stone or with a strop loaded with diamond.

Pressure depends on the stone, the knife, what I am trying to do, what the polish is looking like, how much mud I've raised, etc. etc. etc. Pressure is one of those things you have to play around with a lot till you get a feel for what you want.

I find that this rigorous routine really helps me eliminate all my wire edges. I follow a very similar routine with my single bevels, but adjust it accordingly to that type of knife. I've seen a remarkable improvement in my edges longevity since developing this routine. For example, I have a Yoshihiro deba that I sharpened up last a while ago, and I've intentionally tried to abuse it to kill the edge. I've broken down some large salmon, a lot of snapper, scaled fish with the knife, cut through bones inappropriately and made tuna for spicy tuna rolls. I even did the Morimoto drumming routine making the spicy tuna, where I intentionally slammed the knife into the board... enough so that it actually stuck in the board multiple times. The knife is still so sharp that it doesn't pop hair, it kind of wisps them away. I've actually been completely amazed by the edge retention on that knife, considering that it's White #2. That deba comes very highly recommended by myself for anyone interested in a deba, by the way.

I get a similar jump in edge retention when I do a 90 deg deburr on a finishing stone. I got the idea from Memorael. It's basically sharpening twice. My theory is it gets down beyond the fatigued metal more consistently. With regard to pressure, I use more pressure if I'm working on secondary bevels or trying to remove a lot of metal. While I'm estabilishing my primary bevel, I will use less pressure and as I refine my edge I tend to use still less. When I'm finishing up, I use pretty much the weight of the knife unless it's a super light petty or something similar.

From teaching classes it's become clear to me that there's no right or wrong way for someone to start off with and that people should try it all before making a commitment on whatever being their style. In the end you'll probably wind up doing something in between this and that and be OK with what results you're getting.

The key to getting goods results from whatever technique being used is to take it S-L-O-W and frequently look at your work and analyse what you're doing and make changes as needed.